


When Life’s In A Warring State

by Jen425



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Complicated Relationships, Established Relationship, M/M, Reunions, Time Travel Fix-It, past temporary character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:01:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23166697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jen425/pseuds/Jen425
Summary: Fives Wakes Up.
Relationships: CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 12
Kudos: 143
Collections: May the 4th Be With You Star Wars Fanworks Exchange 2020





	When Life’s In A Warring State

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> Title from Kamen Rider Gaim’s theme, “JUST LIVE MORE”
> 
> Survival You got move  
> When life's in a warring state  
> Who's got the strength to win  
> Now that all the locks are open?

CT-27-5555, Arc Trooper Fives, is dead. That is what happens when you die. Except that last he checked you don’t wake up in cadet gear on Kamino when you die, or even if you somehow barely survived, not after the situation Fives has gotten himself into.

But the hallways are lit despite his pod being dark and Fives looks at his hands and they look less-weathered, despite having the calluses they’ve held since he learned to shoot when he was four years old.

He is alive and he is a Cadet and nothing makes sense.

He sits there for what could be minutes or hours, but his pod beeps the noises calling for immediate wake up and… there is his squad.

Instantly recognizable despite the years.

He almost says something to them, about anything, but then he chokes on it because he almost says their names.

Hevy says “better not have stayed up late just to kriff up our last chance”, and then Fives understands exactly what is happening.

He’s back at the start.

  
  
  


...Anakin Skywalker, formerly Darth Vader, does not have the luxury of waking up, just a sudden wish to fix things as the pain of his body’s remains faded to nothingness, a blink, and finding himself listening to Obi-Wan speak, pain gone.

Before he fully comes back to himself, his past self says “A Padawan would just slow me down.”

Oh.

The ship lands, and Ahsoka, so much younger that he remembers from when they’d fought and he’d almost killed her, walks out.

He’s back at the start.

  
  
  


Fives tries not to change things too much yet, but he has a feeling someone has noticed that he’s faking or that he doesn’t act like a Shiny. But that’s fine, because he has a job to do and only a month and a half to plan for protecting the base from the Seppies. 

That much time is more than he’s ever had to plan. He’s 501st, he does things and hopes for the best.

That won’t cut it this time, though.

(Step one, a prayer: get back into the 501st but save Rishi. Then he can compile evidence earlier, tell Ana— tell his General with _irrevocable_ evidence.

Tell Rex and his Squad, too.

Assuming he can finish that step one.)

He hacks the computers and he makes sure his whole squad is together the day of. He can at least save three lives, that day.

(He at least manages that much.)

  
  
  


Anakin tries to hide his preciseness. He’s gotten used to weakened power, fighting carefully and controlled while also with unabashed rage. But that would be noticed, so he learns how to quip again. How to act like Ahsoka should know him, how Obi-Wan should know him.

Padme… he talks to her, but he very purposefully keeps himself busy enough to rarely truly see her. Until Sidious is dead, he can’t show how much he loves her.

Sidious is the biggest challenge of all. But he has to weather it. The vile man’s pointed comments.

All he can think of is what he’s done and they’re suddenly easy to counter.

Most importantly, however, he lets Sidious believe that he’s still oblivious.

  
  
  


Fives tries not to think about Anak—about his General. About how much he misses him, how much he loves him.

He tries to think of him as just the General because it hurts too much to remember everything from the handmaidens practically shoving them into each other, the week after he returned from ARC training to marrying in the aftermath of Ahsoka’s leaving… a month before he hadn’t even considered lostening to him.

He tries not to think about it because otherwise he’ll deck the man in the face as soon as they land on the _Resolute_.

And right now all he wants to do is share his brothers’ enthusiasm and ignore the suspicions in Rex’s eyes.

  
  
  


Anakin’s thoughts drift to Fives from the moment Rex goes to oversee the routine inspection of Rishi. With Padme, it was his fault but he can at least try to fix it. Can try and lie to himself and keep justifying so that he won’t break.

With Fives… he hadn’t listened when his enslaved husband had _begged_ him to believe, to listen, as if he didn’t know that Masters used chips and why wouldn’t the Republic use the same method in secret?

He hadn’t been desperate. He hadn’t been lonely and scared and sleep deprived and manipulated into a corner and freshly Fallen.

He’d just been _stupid_.

Rex takes his helmet off when he returns and says “Found some shinies, can we keep them?”

And Anakin is too distracted by the familiar Force presence of Fives that he doesn’t count heads, just smirks and says “of course.”

  
  
  


The General watches him during the ceremony but Fives doesn’t even imagine that he might be recognized until he realizes he’s been staring back, and the General makes a familiar gesture.

It’s 501st, a hand motion which translates to _life_ , followed by a question mark.

Fives nods, just barely.

No one else reacts.

Anakin’s eyes are suddenly unbearably sad.

And Fives is glad he knows how to hide his emotions at least this much because right now he knows he would either punch him or kiss him senseless if he was any closer.

  
  
  


Anakin hasn’t changed his room code since he first set it because he’d always wanted his men and Ahsoka to come to him without having to wait and knock. The fact that it’s Fives, armor pain fresh, is hardly even a surprise.

He doesn’t say his name.

“[Overseer,]” he says.

Anakin laughs.

“[That title is more deserved than you know,]” he says. But… “[How are you alive?]”

“[How are you?]” Fives replies. Anakin can’t meet his former husband’s eyes.

“[I didn’t listen,]” he says. “[The Master… is a Sith. I made mistakes. I was dying. I… I wished I could fix things.]”

  
  
  


Fives stares. The Master, for them, could it…

“The Chancellor?” He asks. Just to be sure. Anakin nods, he’s glaring more dangerous than Fives has _ever_ seen him do.

“This entire war is a sham,” he says. “To build an empire for _him_ at everyone else’s cost… and I helped.”

His eyes flash gold. Fives knows enough to guess what that means.

“I’ve lived with my mistakes for almost 25 years,” Anakin says. He looks to Fives, and his eyes are blue again. Sad. “Not listening to you was the second unforgivable one. I’m… so sorry.”

Fives hadn’t been sure if he wanted to punch Anakin or kiss him.

But maybe he’s been overthinking things.

(He does them consecutively.)

  
  
  


Fives punching him is something unsurprising, and Anakin doesn’t think of dodging.

Fives kissing him, hungrily, is so surprising that Anakin doesn’t respond for several seconds. To his credit, he hasn’t properly kissed more than maybe fifteen times since… over 20 years ago.

Padme controlled their kisses with finess and deep-seated love. Kissing Fives had always been touched with desperation and a natural connection. Both had kissed him when they were high on the adrenaline of battle or desperate from their most recent loss.

(Miraj Scintel had kissed slowly and deliberately, smirking with the power of complete dominance over someone powerful but scared. Scarred deep in his mind both from the disgust it had left him with and so as to fuel his hatred as a Sith.)

This is different, this is hungry and violent and _angry_ . And Anakin takes it before slowly kissing back in kind, letting a bit of the parts of him that have been screaming for three months to just _destroy_ the things in his way.

Fives pulls back, face serious.

“Fix things, huh?” He asks. “[Let’s destroy the Master.]”

Anakin blinks.

“[Of course,]” he says.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!!


End file.
